Police Officer Involved Domestic Violence.
Lighting a candle of remembrance for those who've lost their lives to domestic violence behind the blue wall, for strength and wisdom to those still there, and a non-ending prayer for those who thought they had escaped but can't stop being afraid.

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Monday, February 7, 2011

[NY] Officer Schunk "Trial begins for cop who did not fear arrest" - Albany Times Union

...[Albany police Officer Robert' Schunk, who has had numerous off-duty brushes with police but nearly always avoided arrest, was growing increasingly violent in fights fueled by jealousy, alcohol, or both. According to court records, Schunk, 39, who has been with the force 12 years, didn't fear breaking the law and was confident that fellow police officers would not arrest him... Waters told deputies Schunk roughed her up and she showed them bruises on her arms and legs. The deputies threatened to arrest Waters for kicking and damaging a television if she pressed charges. Schunk was not arrested... Despite Waters' injuries, an incident report filed by deputies on June 25, 2009, indicates "no injuries to either party." The deputies, who belong to the same police union as Schunk, Council 82, classified the incident as "verbal abuse"... The following day, Waters drove to a sheriff's substation in Halfmoon and again showed deputies her injuries and bruises, which had grown more visible. They declined to take a second report. A person with knowledge of the incident said Schunk was later tipped that Waters had been there...

I usually don't post whole articles but this one can't be chopped up. Please go the the [Albany Times-Union] website to see the photos taken at Schunk's residence.

TRIAL BEGINS FOR COP WHO DID NOT FEAR ARREST: Robert Schunk, 39, is accused of pressing handgun to his former girlfriend's head during jealous rage

Times Union

By BRENDAN J. LYoNS Senior Writer

Monday, February 7, 2011

When the yelling started, often late at night, the patrol cars eased quietly onto Lookout Lane as police arrived to handle the domestic troubles involving one of their own.

Behind the door of Apartment 409 , Albany police Officer Robert Schunk and his former girlfriend, Barbara Waters, were becoming a case study in domestic violence. Schunk, who has had numerous off-duty brushes with police but nearly always avoided arrest, was growing increasingly violent in fights fueled by jealousy, alcohol, or both.

According to court records, Schunk, 39, who has been with the force 12 years, didn't fear breaking the law and was confident that fellow police officers would not arrest him. But his luck wasn't bulletproof.

On Monday, Schunk's criminal trial begins in Albany on charges that he struck Waters in the head with a handgun, pressing the barrel into her skull, after pushing her down a flight of stairs at his Albany apartment two years ago.

The violent encounter didn't come to light until last May after Schunk was arrested in Halfmoon. Sheriff's deputies say he knocked Waters around her apartment and took items without permission. Earlier that night at a nearby bar, Schunk poured a beer over Waters' head, according to a police report.

Waters also was arrested that night after she drove to Schunk's Albany apartment and damaged items, including a computer, in an act of retribution.

But while Schunk was charged with misdemeanors, Waters was arrested by Albany police on a felony charge that was later dismissed.

A review of police records, and interviews with people close to Schunk, raise questions about whether Albany police, and other area agencies, turned a blind eye to his troubling behavior.

In addition, a person with knowledge of the matter said Schunk and officers who were part of an aggressive patrol unit occasionally gathered at Schunk's residence, while some officers were allegedly on duty, to drink and play cards. The Strategic Deployment Unit, in the five years it existed, logged complaints ranging from excessive force to civil rights violations and assault. The unit was recently disbanded by Police Chief Steven Krokoff.

Schunk's problems date at least to June 2002 when police in Colonie responded to a domestic disturbance involving Schunk and a former girlfriend. Police noted Schunk appeared intoxicated, was physically violent and broke a vase at the woman's residence. Schunk was not arrested.

Three years later, in April 2005, Schunk was arrested on drunken-driving charges by an Albany police lieutenant after smashing his Volkswagen into two parked cars on North Allen Street. Schunk refused an alcohol test and fought the charges before eventually pleading guilty to driving while ability impaired.

The department disciplined Schunk and he returned to duty.

Most drivers lose their license for a DWI conviction. But Schunk's driving privileges were restored after his fellow officers gave conflicting testimony at a motor vehicle hearing about whether his rights had been properly read to him. An internal affairs investigation that probed whether officers manipulated their testimony was later dropped, an official familiar with the case said.

Two years later, in June 2007, police in Clifton Park were called to the home of Schunk's brother as the two men fought. Police noted that both men appeared intoxicated and Schunk allegedly "threatened to shoot his brother with a pistol," according to a court record. Schunk was not arrested.

Two years after that, in June 2009, Saratoga County sheriff's deputies responded to Waters' apartment as Schunk and the woman argued, which neighbors said was common.

According to a person familiar with the incident, Waters told deputies Schunk roughed her up and she showed them bruises on her arms and legs. The deputies threatened to arrest Waters for kicking and damaging a television in the apartment, which carried her name on the lease, if she pressed charges. Schunk was not arrested.

(Page 2 of 3)

Despite Waters' injuries, an incident report filed by deputies on June 25, 2009, indicates "no injuries to either party." The deputies, who belong to the same police union as Schunk, Council 82, classified the incident as "verbal abuse."

The following day, Waters drove to a sheriff's substation in Halfmoon and again showed deputies her injuries and bruises, which had grown more visible. They declined to take a second report. A person with knowledge of the incident said Schunk was later tipped that Waters had been there.

Lyn A. Murphy, a Saratoga County assistant district attorney, filed a motion in Albany County Court last week that gave a different version than the June 2009 sheriff's report. Murphy, who is handling Schunk's case as a special prosecutor, wrote that Schunk "physically assaulted Ms. Waters while they were at her home in Halfmoon. He was also verbally abusive and damaged her property while in a rage."

The motion said Waters sought medical treatment and that after Schunk identified himself as a police officer to deputies "no arrest was made."

Last April, in another 911 police response to Waters' apartment, Schunk was arrested by a sheriff's sergeant following another violent confrontation. The charges: trespassing, harassment, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment, for allegedly throwing his pickup truck in reverse and nearly striking Waters.

The deputies did not charge Schunk with assault or a felony. A police report indicates Schunk kicked open a locked bathroom door, where Waters was hiding, and "he grabbed her by her arms and pushed her into the bathroom wall and kick(ed) her in the legs ... leaving black and blue bruises on her."

Albany's internal affairs detectives then launched an investigation and while questioning Waters they learned that Schunk had allegedly hit Waters in the head with his departmental handgun in January 2009, during another jealousy-fueled fight.

The internal probe triggered the appointment of a special prosecutor and Schunk was indicted by an Albany grand jury on charges of felony and misdemeanor assault. Krokoff, who became chief last year, filed administrative charges seeking to fire Schunk.

Among the people who testified before the grand jury in the criminal case was Officer Christian Mesley, president of the Albany Police Officers Union and Schunk's friend. Mesley, a gun expert, is scheduled to testify at Schunk's trial this week about how he disabled Schunk's handgun while visiting him the night of the incident with Waters, and while the couple were fighting about Schunk's jealousy.

A short time later, according to the charges, Schunk attacked Waters and held his knee in her back while pressing the barrel of his gun into her skull. Waters told detectives that Schunk pulled the weapon away from her head at one point and stared curiously at the weapon. She sought medical treatment 11 days later and told a physician's assistant, who is expected to testify, what Waters said had happened.

James Lyman, executive director of Council 82, the Albany police union's umbrella union, accompanied Mesley to Schunk's residence the night of the gun incident. Lyman also is on the government's witness list.

Pre-trial motions by Schunk's lawyer, Cheryl Coleman, said Schunk did not intend to injure Waters with the gun because it had been "disassembled" and was therefore "not a dangerous instrument."

On Sunday, Coleman said Schunk has a different version of what unfolded that night. "That just did not happen," Coleman said of Waters' allegation. Coleman said they will challenge Waters' credibility for not telling police about the incident for more than a year and after she was arrested for damaging Schunk's property.

"This was a very dysfunctional relationship," Coleman said. "I think there's going to be a lot of problems with the DA's case and with her credibility. But clearly both of them are probably better off being with other people."

Waters declined requests to comment.

(Page 3 of 3)

Schunk remains suspended with pay while the department seeks his termination. While on suspension he had another brush with police last August when a Colonie officer found him sitting in his pickup truck with a 23-year-old woman who is a documented heroin addict. They were in the parking lot of a Kmart at 2:30 a.m.

The woman, who was also wanted on drug charges, later told Albany detectives Schunk paid her $60 for sex after picking her up on Central Avenue in Albany.

A subpoena of Schunk's banking records indicated he withdrew $60 from a cash machine shortly before the Colonie officer confronted the pair. The woman, Rachal Schroeder, was charged with drug possession. Schunk was not arrested.

The jury scheduled to hear evidence at Schunk's trial is not likely to hear details of his past, except possibly the June 2009 incident in Halfmoon. Albany County Judge Stephen W. Herrick ruled Murphy, who sought to introduce all of Schunk's brushes with police, may not use evidence "unrelated" to the gun incident because it could be prejudicial to Schunk, the judge ruled.

Albany officials have not fulfilled a Freedom of Information Law request filed two months ago by the Times Union that seeks copies of all complaints filed against the now-disbanded SDU. A city attorney said the information is being compiled.

Last month, the city paid a man $39,000 to settle a federal claim that two members of the SDU, after misidentifying him as a drug dealer, struck him with batons and pepper sprayed him before charging him with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

A few years ago, a lieutenant who supervised the SDU was suspended 30 days after breaking his hand while punching the head of a young man in handcuffs.

City police officials declined comment on Schunk's case or allegations made to their internal affairs unit that on-duty officers consumed alcohol at his residence. Deputy Chief Stephen Reilly said the department does not want to imperil their pending case that seeks to fire Schunk. [LINK]